Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, located northwest of Nairobi. It is part of the Great Rift Valley. The name comes from the local Maasai name Nai'posha, which means "rough waters" because of the sudden storms that can arise.
The lake is at 1,884 meters (6,181 feet) the highest elevation in Kenya's Rift Valley and is part of a complex geologic combination of volcanic rocks and sedimentary deposits from a large Pleistocene-era lake called Enaioposha (Nai'posha in the Maasai language) now called Naivasha.
After the eruption of the Longonot, Suswa and Menengai Mountains, the volume of the lake was gradually reduced by the very hot volcanic ash that fell in and around the lake, thus dividing it into two different types of lakes, namely freshwater lakes and saltwater lakes. The freshwater lakes are Lake Enaioposha (Naivasha) and Lake Baringo, while the saltwater lakes are Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria and Lake Elementaita. In addition to transient streams, the Naivasha is fed by the perennial Malewa and Gilgil rivers.
